Meerkats can identify each other by voice

Image: Tim Seed / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In one recorded scenario, the same meerkat voice could be heard through separate speakers on both sides of the animal at the same time. In the other, a different meerkat voice was played on each side. The meerkats in the study gave a stronger reaction when they heard the same voice apparently coming from two directions at the same time - suggesting they realised this should not be possible.

Dr Simon Townsend, of the University of Zurich, said: "This is the first experimental demonstration of vocal individual recognition, under natural settings, in a species other than primates." While humans and some other primates are able to recognise different individuals from their voices, Townsend says, it is not clear how common this is among other mammals who live in social groups.

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